


Butterflies in a China Shop

by penlex



Series: lucky number ones [7]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Bad Flirting, Flirting, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 17:59:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12237864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penlex/pseuds/penlex
Summary: What is flirting, really? The scientific community (Ed) may never know...





	Butterflies in a China Shop

Ed surprises himself with how much he likes sex, considering previously he'd had so little interest in it as to not even have entertained the notion, and even now that he knows how awesome it is it still never enters his mind until it gets brought up (ha). Of course, to say that sex only comes to Ed's mind when someone else brings it to the fore is not at all to say that it doesn't come to Ed's mind often. Ed's well and truly a grown ass man now, and for all that he doesn't get how someone can tell they want to have sex with someone else just by looking at them, the way he looks in particular seems to check a lot of people's boxes. He's not short on people interested in making him think about sex (or short at all, fuck you very much).

His only problem is: he absolutely does not get flirting. Like at all. All that coy shit… it just doesn't make any sense. A person could flirt with Ed for ten days straight, and Ed would never realize it until they finally  _ actually  _ propositioned him, or else they got pissed off that he seemed to be leading them on or whatever.

So, here Ed is, (sort of) thinking about sex for the first time without prompting, plus some fucking- what?  _ Romance  _ (sort of)? Gross, if that's what it is - which Ed isn't sure about. Nobody, not even Al, can manage to give Ed a solid explanation of what romantic stuff actually feels like so he has no way to tell. All he knows is that he hasn't felt this way before, so either it's romance or something else entirely (which, pretty typical for Ed's life, so). And he has not a damn clue what he's supposed to do about it.

Okay, wait, so that's not Ed's  _ only  _ problem. Like, the existence of whatever these weird feelings are, which may or may not be romantic in nature, is actually not the only problem. Because the second problem is that the feelings are for Mustang.

Fucking Mustang, of all people.

Ed and Al have an apartment in Central now, a one-and-a-half bedroom type of situation, and Al is going to college and getting a real education and Ed is taking a year off of doing literally anything. He sleeps in, plays with the cat, visits local friends, and eats lunch at cafes, and all that shit.

And by 'local friends' Ed mostly means Mustang and team.

Or. Just Mustang. Mostly.

It's just… Ed wants to  _ be there _ for him, all the way to the tip-top of his every goal. He calls it equivalent exchange in his snappy inner monologue so that he doesn't have to be embarrassed about it. After all, Mustang has never once let Ed down. Ed just wants to repay the favor. And also kiss his face. Whatever.

So sometimes Ed buys lunch for two at the cafe and brings one of them to Mustang at his office because he knows Mustang is the type of dumbass to forget to eat. And he sits on Mustang's stupid couch in there like he used to before he finally got let off the State hook. And he watches Mustang work and admires how focused he can get and how neat his handwriting is and that it always smells good in here and how cute Mustang's distracted half-answers are when Ed talks to him during some particularly convoluted paperwork. And sometimes Mustang says, "What's wrong, Fullmetal? Did you miss me?" and he's smirking softly and his eyes are bright, and that  _ sounds  _ like it could be flirting maybe…? But Ed never knows how to respond and by the time he  comes up with something that seems right, Mustang has dropped his eyes and turned away.

In the end Ed figures his best bet is just to stop trying to play the game. It's not like Mustang should be surprised by that after all.

He comes into the office and the Lieutenants all give him eyebrows as he passes, whatever that shit is supposed to mean. Ed hasn't eaten his own cafe sandwich yet this time, needing to have something to do with his hands just in case Mustang turns him down and there's awkwardness.

Ed kicks the door open like he always has done, feels a little thrill when it makes Mustang's lips twitch up into a smile. He tosses Mustang's sandwich onto his desk, heedless of whatever paperwork is going on there. Mustang doesn't seem bothered. Ed flops down onto the stupid couch, folds his legs under him, and then stuffs his mouth completely full.

Mustang watches him eat, and that little smile doesn't go away. That's gotta count for something, right? Damn, Ed hopes Mustang doesn't feel  _ paternal  _ towards him or something terrible like that. That would be the most embarrassing shit ever.

When his mouth is only halfway full anymore Ed straightens up and finally blurts out, "So do you wanna date or what?"

Mustang only blinks at him, and Ed has a nice full five or six seconds to panic in, before Mustang laughs at him.

"I should have known better than to try to be subtle with you," he says ruefully, shaking his head with affection. He's like… really pretty…

"So, is that a yes?" Ed asks, less abrupt now that the initial questioning is done. And even if it's  _ not  _ a yes, Mustang doesn't look like he's going to be an ass about it.

"Yes, Edward," Mustang finally answers, his smile stretching his face ( _ wow _ ). "I would love to date you."

Well, Ed thinks as he pushes down the weird fluttery feeling in his belly so he can keep eating, now he knows.


End file.
